The present invention relates to a bidirectional control arrangement for a working vehicle having a hydrostatic stepless transmission which provides a plurality of speeds for backward drive as well as forward drive across a neutral position, and particularly to a bidirectional control arrangement including a seesaw type change speed pedal.
This type of bidirectional control arrangement is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication Kokai No. 60-146729. In the disclosed arrangement, the hydrostatic stepless transmission provides an increasingly high forward speed when a down-toe motion is applied to the change speed pedal, and an increasingly high backward speed when a down heel motion is applied to the pedal.
The change speed pedal includes a forward drive depress pad and a backward drive depress pad at longitudinally opposite ends thereof. A down-toe motion is applied to the pedal by a foot placed on the forward drive depress pad, while a down-heel motion is applied to the backward drive depress pad.
Generally, it is difficult to effect delicate speed controls with the heel, and therefore the backward drive depress pad may also be applied with a down-toe motion. In other words, it is conceivable to provide a change speed pedal having an increased length so that the forward and backward drive depress pedals are spaced apart by an increased distance. However, the foot must be moved over an extensive range for depressing the pedal for forward drive and backward drive. This results in the disadvantages of low operating efficiency and of requiring a large space in the fore and aft direction for accommodating the elongated change speed pedal.